Ghostly Love
by ilikebagels
Summary: Kagome was one heck of a lonely person. After being set up on a horrible date with her sister's fiance's brother, she throws in the towel. Kurama, a cocky and devishly handsome kitsune, decides to reach in and pick up that towel... even if he is a ghost.
1. A Deal and A Date

"This is ridiculous, Hiei. Why do we have to meet up with this guy anyway?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Kurama, you know as well as I that we will get nowhere in this stupid ningen world if we don't have it on our side. It has power over youkai, ningen, _and_ those idiotic deities. And he is in possession of it. Now shut up and keep driving."

Kurama sighed, but continued to follow the directions on the scrap of paper held in his hand.

They had heard stories of this youkai, terrible stories that made your toes curl and blood turn cold. Well, Hiei kept his fear under close watch, not letting it show on his features whenever the name 'Naraku' was mentioned. Hiei was always like that.

_Stubborn fool, _Kurama thought, snorting in his mind. Kurama however was wary of this youkai. He did not seem like one to toy with, and if they went along with their plan, they would be doing just that.

_'And if all else fails we'll give tell him you're gay and that you're in love with him. That always seems to work. And with any luck he'll ravage you and send you back, denying your request for something more than a quick fuck.'_

Kurama sent a quick glare in the direction of the three-eyed telepath before returning his eyes to the road.

_If we use that plan I prefer we send you. Your energy does not deplete at all after hours and hours of rabbit humping. I'm sure Naraku would appreciate that._

Hiei very nearly choked on air at Kurama's comment, but before he could retaliate they pulled into an empty parking lot for a bar called Fuze.

Slamming their doors, both demons exited their car and walked up to the odd looking bar. It was two stories high and made of dark stone. No lights were on, making it look terribly uninviting. However, Kurama and Hiei, being the brave little youkai that they were, merely pushed open the front door and strutted inside.

Sadly upon their entrance seven guns were pointed in their direction, making it extremely hard to strut.

Kurama sighed, but pricked his ears to the sound of footsteps coming down a flight of stairs to his left. _Hiei, do you hear that? And… _sense_ that?_

Hiei nodded, tuning in his Jagan to the aura of the descending figure. _'He certainly is powerful… but he's a hanyou.'_

The man finally reached the end of the steps, walking forward a bit to stand directly in front of the pair. Kurama narrowed his green eyes at him, trying to memorize his features. He had long black hair, kept immaculately in a low ponytail. He wasn't exactly over muscled, but he was no weakling in the strength department. The oddest thing about him was his eyes. Piercing, violet eyes. Eyes you wouldn't get out of your head for weeks. Eyes that would bring nightmares to your sleep…

"What do I owe for the company of you two gentlemen?"

Kurama snapped out of his perusal of Naraku and turned his attention to the man speaking in that velvety voice.

Hiei spoke first. "We're here to negotiate."

Naraku's thin eyebrow arched. "Negotiate what?"

"We've heard some stories," Kurama said, "And if they are true we wish to make a treaty."

Naraku's other eyebrow joined its brother. "Oh?"

Hiei glanced at Kurama. _'You know what to do. Kiss ass like the wind.'_

Kurama bit his lower lip, trying to make his features look intimidated. "We have heard tales of your power and of your many victims. My friend and I don't wish to become one of your victims, so we were hoping that we could reach some sort of agreement. You don't kill us, and we'll work under you. I know we aren't as strong as you are, but we have decent powers. I'm sure they would be of some use to you."

Naraku leered at them. Kurama was a little frightened that he could smell the lies radiating out of his words.

_'He can't tell, Kurama. I'm still masking our scents, but hurry up and seal the deal; I can only keep up the disguise for half an hour.'_

Kurama almost got down on his knees after Hiei told him that. Even though they were fooling Naraku, he'd rather not be the object of his wrath and suddenly find himself the new chew toy for his minions pointing guns at him. But the pride that Youko had instilled in him kept him from bending down.

"It would be an honor if you would accept our proposal." Kurama said, lying through his teeth.

Naraku chuckled. "I suppose we could use a few youkai like you guys." Then he frowned. "But know this… others who… disappoint me… are taken care of by myself, personally and immediately. I do not tolerate slackers."

Kurama and Hiei nodded. "Yes, Naraku."

_So. Here I am. Eating sliced olives from a can. Which almost rhymes with am. Can. Am. _

_The complete uselessness of my life is finally catching up with me. I'm almost beginning to realize that I should be out there ('there' being the world) doing something exciting with my life. And yet here I am. Eating Kroger olives (quality guaranteed!) out of a can with an oversized fork._

_Why did it turn out like this? I'm a decent woman of twenty-three. I own my very own business (a dance studio, thank you very much) and I've done nothing too horrible to deserve this loneliness. Well, there was that one time in Mexico when I… uh… right._

_I've finished my olives and have switched to a can of tuna with some mayonnaise. Healthy beyond all reason._

_I suppose I should be getting ready. My dear sister is coming over in a half hour with her dear fiancé and his dear brother. Apparently, we are going to have a "grand old time" at this club my sister is fond of. And my date just so happens to be her fiancé's brother. Whoop-di-doo._

_I shouldn't really judge him since I haven't even met him yet, but when my sister says someone is absolutely and positively fantastic, it's not always true. For example: her fiancé, Inuyasha. How she describes him, in her own words, "He's the most wonderful man I've ever met, Kagome! He's rich and funny and gentle and sweet! And he's the best kisser ever, too hoo hoo!" What he's really like, in my own words, "That man is the most repulsive thing I've ever seen. Not one shred of decency in him! Rich and sweet, my ass!"_

_Honestly. His brother better have some sense of propriety or I swear I will murder Kikyo again and again and again and again and…_

DING DONG!!!!!!!!

_Ah crap. She's already here?!_

"Kagome! Kagome! KAGOME! OPEN THE DOOR!"

The flustered woman ran to the door, fork still in her mouth, can of tuna in her right hand. She nearly tripped over some random box lying on the ground before she reached the doorknob and turned it.

Kagome's visitors' first sight of her probably wasn't very pleasant

_I almost feel bad for Inuyasha's brother. Who would want to go on a date with some weirdo who eats tuna out of a can and wears Monty Python boxers?_

Kikyo's eyes widened when she saw the state Kagome was in. "_You _were supposed to be ready when we got here."

Kagome rolled her eyes and took the eating utensil out of her mouth, pointing it in Kikyo's direction. "And _you_ were supposed to be here at 9:00, not 8:00."

Kikyo laughed in her annoying way. "Well, we decided to surprise you! Thought it was a good idea to come over and introduce you to your date."

Which made Kagome swing her eyesight past Kikyo, past Inuyasha (who was looking at Kagome like she was a repulsive cockroach), and to his brother.

Kagome's eyes blew up to the size of saucers. _Whoa._

_Demons are supposed to be disgustingly ugly and smelly and stupid, right? Then how come this one was so freaking and unbelievingly hot?!_

His silver hair went down to his butt (_which is probably gorgey and tight and muscular and… yeah_) and blew slightly in the wind (…wind? They were inside an apartment complex…). He was wearing a baby blue button up shirt over a navy blue t-shirt that nicely outlined his toned muscles. His elegant face was adorned with two maroon stripes on each cheek and a crescent moon on his forehead. What was most amazing was his eyes. They were deep amber with flecks of glistening gold. He didn't smile, but there was something inside him that almost wanted to be happy…

"You look like shit. I won't allow my date to look like you do."

_I hate him I hate him I hate him. _

"Well, it's nice to meet you, too." Kagome gritted out.

He smirked slightly and stepped inside the fuming girl's apartment. "How do you manage to survive in such small living quarters?"

Kagome shrugged, smiled sweetly, and said, her voice dripping venom, "When you are the only person living in a house I figure that it doesn't have to be that large. That and I can't afford anything more than this, unlike you who has buckets upon buckets of money stored somewhere in your mansion. From what I hear your house is just huge and lonely. You are the only one who lives there, right?"

He simply looked at me, as if that answered her question. _And he thinks _I'm_ weird?_

Inuyasha groaned and blurted out, "Just get dressed, damn woman. It'd be a pain to have to clean up your corpse after Sesshoumaru gets done with you."

Kagome glanced at the sliver haired hanyou. "Fine. I'll get dressed, oh supreme one, so we can get to the club faster so that you can stare at other women's asses." She turned to Sesshoumaru. "So. Sesshoumaru, eh? Fitting, very fitting…"

Kagome then whipped her head around and headed towards the bedroom.

Kagome's ears picked up snatches of their conversation as she pulled on a brown silk halter top and black skirt._ Humph, _she thought, _I could have sworn I heard the words 'no', 'Kagome', and 'that slut better be ready in five minutes'._

Luckily for Sesshy (_I better not call him that out loud or I will find myself in a wheel chair…_), she was done in four. And fifty-nine seconds…

She stepped out of her room and Inuyasha's jaw dropped. Sesshoumaru stayed as stoic as ever.

"K… Kagome! You look…" Inuyasha stutters.

"Tolerable."

She glared at the inuyoukai. _I am more than tolerable and he knows it! Stubborn little son of a…_

"Why thank you Sesshoumaru. I'm so pleased that I can accommodate you in some way! Honestly, I live to serve you and your every whim. Now let's get going so that we can have an absolutely scrumtrelecent night!" She said sarcastically.

They got in Inuyasha's car, which was an amazing Porsche. Kagome was stuck in the back with Sesshoumaru, who was sitting as stiff as a board. Even though music was playing, it seemed so quiet. No one was talking and you could cut the tension with a sharp pointy stick. It wasn't quite thick enough to be cut with a knife. By the time they reached the club, Kagome could tell that she was going to have to get drunk off her ass to have a good time.

"Yes! Finally here!" Kikyo screamed as they got out of the car.

Inuyasha grabbed her around the waist and walked to the front of the line, ignoring the complaints of the people waiting patiently behind a red velvet rope.

The bouncer let them in and bowed low to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. _Do I even want to ask?_

They entered and split ways. Inuyasha and Kikyo went to grab a table while Sesshoumaru and Kagome stood awkwardly next to each other. Neither liked the situation they were in.

Kagome cleared her throat and nervously smiled. "I'm going to go over to the bar and get me something to drink. Do you want something?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head at her and sat down at a nearby table, completely ignoring her.

Kagome scowled at him before heading to the bar. She plopped down, sinking her head into her hand.

An odd looking red haired man was bartending that night, and said, "What can I get for you?"

Kagome groaned. "Anything with lots of alcohol."

The bartender frowned. "Bad day?"

Kagome shook her head. "Bad _date_."

He furrowed his brow, and said, "You're on a date? Where is he?"

Kagome scoffed and pointed at the table Sesshoumaru was at.

He whistled long and low. "That's a fine looking one. I'm sorry that he's neglecting you. Being that he's so handsome and all, I bet you like him, so that kinda sucks…"

"I hate him."

"Oh, well then, screw him. Why don't I get you some shots?"

Kagome grinned. "Please do."

Half and hour later Kagome was slurring her words and making weird faces.

"You knooow, you've been a reeaal sweetheart. Wa's your name agin?"

The man sighed. "I've told you five times. It's Kuwabara."

Kagome laughed. "Ah, yeah, Kuwabura."

"Bara. Kuwa_bara_."

"Gome. Ka_gome._" She snorted and slammed her fist on the table repeatedly. "HA! I did wa you did, but I used my name! HAHAHAHA… ohh… I doan feel so good…"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't. You've had around fifteen shots. If you need it, the bathroom is right there on your left."

Kagome nodded, her face turning green, before shooting over to the bathroom.

Kuwabara sighed again and turned to the bartender on the other side of the bar. "Urameshi! I'm gonna go call a cab for one of the customers. Her date sure as hell isn't giving her a ride home and she needs to get home now. Cover for me!"

The black-haired bartender nodded, but rolled his eyes. "Someday your kindness is going to get you killed, Kuwabara."

Kuwabara grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm only calling a cab for a _girl_. I doubt that she will attack me as I dial the number."

Urameshi snorted and turned back to his customers.

Kagome returned from the bathroom a few minutes later, wiping her mouth. Kuwabara called her over and said, "I called a cab for you. You need to get home soon before you get hurt. People in this club tend to be a little rough. If you want I can walk you outside to wait for the cab."

Kagome smiled slightly and thanked him, but told him she would be fine. "But if you want to lend me a few bucks to pay for the ride…"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes but pulled out his wallet and handed her a twenty.

Still a little drunk, Kagome bowed low and said, "Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I will tell tales of your sweetheart-ness and let the world know that Kuwabura the Great is living amongst us, so no fear fellow human beings!"

As she walked away Kuwabara yelled at her, "Bara! Kuwa_bara_!


	2. An Overlooked Encounter

Kurama and Hiei sat in silence in the car, waiting for the light to turn green. Neither was very pleased about what they had just done.

Kurama cleared his throat. "I feel like a pansy, Hiei."

"As you should," he growled. "Good God, I'm glad you were the one that had to kiss his ass. I wouldn't be able to get the taste out of my mouth for weeks."

Kurama reached over and smacked him over the head. "I would have tortured you into doing it, but I knew with your horrible control on your anger you would blow it and try to decapitate him." Then he smirked, a bit of Youko peeking through, and said, "You should feel honored that I'm being so open with you. I don't let my evil side show around people I don't trust. Although I must admit it's particularly foolish of me to place my trust in _you_ of all people?"

Hiei crossed his arms and looked out the window. "Now, now, Kurama, you can't deny that if you need a trustworthy person, you need me." He grinned evilly. "And by 'you' I do mean _you_, Kurama. If it were anyone else I would dice them, cook them, and feed them to Yuusuke."

Kurama chuckled and turned into a club parking lot, this one looking a bit more inviting than Naraku's. "And that's why we make such a great team."

The hybrid snorted. "Damn, Kurama, you **are** a pansy."

Kagome sat on the curb, head lying on her tucked up knees, waiting for her cab. Her stomach was still doing flops, though not as violently as before.

_The cab seems to be coming to me from far away…_

Sighing, she looked up to see if the taxi was down the street, only to find a car speeding in the parking lot. She rolled her eyes at the automobile and ignored it. That is, until the car came skidding to a stop five feet in front of her.

She leaped back, sprawled across the entrance and breathing hard. The driver parked, still right in front of her, and out stepped two youkai. One was amazingly short for someone with such an evil look. The other one was actually decently tall, but she couldn't get a glimpse of his face.

They walked towards her, not bothering to glance at her even the slightest. Kagome growled as they passed her and screamed out at them, "What the hell are you thinking tearing into a parking lot like that?! You could hurt someone, you selfish bastards!"

Her words still sounded slightly blurred, but were gaining more clarity. Kurama and Hiei, however, just kept walking. _'Kurama… she's irritating…'_

Kurama shook his head. _She's drunk. She probably wouldn't be bothering us if she wasn't, so leave her alone. We just came here to update Yuusuke and Kuwabara on our plan then leave. We don't need to complicate matters further by trying to explain to policemen why there is a disembodied girl on the sidewalk._

Even so, Kurama flinched and glared back at the girl as she screamed, "JACKASSES!!!"

But all he could see of her when he glanced over his shoulder was swishing black hair disappearing into a cab.

The pair continued to walk to the bar where Yuusuke and Kuwabara were helping customers. They both sat down near Yuusuke, the lesser of two idiots.

_'Baka, get over here,'_ Hiei called, trying not to draw attention by talking to Yuusuke with his Jagan.

Yuusuke sighed but excused himself from his current customer and sidled over to Kurama and Hiei.

"What can I get you two assholes? A beer? Some vodka? Or maybe a punch in the face for choosing the one night we had to work to start the plan?"

Kurama shook his. "No, thank you. And we already explained, Yuusuke, this was the only night we could go. And he probably would have killed you guys anyway. Somehow I doubt he likes humans…"

Yuusuke cut him off, "Whatever. So why are you guys here? Did all go well?"

Hiei nodded. "Tonight is when we go to get it. We just need a distraction… which is where you two ningen come in."

The retired spirit detective groaned. "Why can't Kuwabara be a distraction and I help infiltrate with you? I'm almost as fast as you now and…"

"No." Hiei said with finality that Yuusuke couldn't challenge. "You aren't familiar with Naraku, so you won't be able to be in there. And beside, Kuwabara's too stupid to be a distraction on his own. He'll get killed within the first five minutes."

Kuwabara came over, laughing. "Ah, you do love me, Hiei…"

And then what Hiei said sunk in. "WHAT?! Why do I have to be a distraction?! And against Naraku! You've heard the tales, he's a psychopath!"

Kurama coughed, trying to get the attention of the group. "Kuwabara, you won't die. Yuusuke will be there to help you, as will a few of my plants. If you need to get away, I'll be nearby."

Both of the humans looked uneasy, but the youkai, however, were not going to budge.

"We have about three hours until we go back to Fuze. You guys are leaving this club by then whether you like it or not." Hiei said, arms crossed.

Kuwabara groaned. "Fine."


	3. The Plan

Kagome groaned, letting her head bang down onto the keyboard. Her blog forgotten, she almost passed out, were it not for the annoying _ping_ of an instant message. She glared at the bright screen. A new window had popped up from a 'Ms. Exterminator.'

Kagome lifted her head and closed the window for her blog without saving. _Who wants to know about a girl eating olives and wearing Monty Python boxers, anyway?_

Kagome typed to her friend.

**Bor-Red: **Hai?

**Ms. Exterminator: **Yare yare, Kagome, I can already tell you had a crappy night. What happened with your date?

**Bor-Red: **Good lord, Sango, I can't believe Kikyo. She has the oddest taste in men. I mean, I talked to him for five minutes the entire night. I'm not even joking.

**Ms. Exterminator: **I'm terribly terribly sorry, 'Gome. It must suck to be you.

**Bor-Red:** Ah, yes, I can almost _feel_ the reassurance that I'm not completely crap seeping into my skin. Thanks, Sango.

**Ms. Exterminator: **Sorry. It's just that you haven't had much luck with men, have you?

**Bor-Red: **…sigh… No, I haven't. Pfft. At least you have Miroku, the pervert that he is. He does love you, you know.

**Ms. Exterminator: **Oh, shut up. You're only trying to get the conversation off of yourself. And yes, I know he loves me, but he has the oddest way of showing it. Especially with his groping other women thing. Man…

**Bor-Red:** Maybe we should listen to him when he says his hand is cursed…

**Ms. Exterminator:** Shut up… I'm going to bed. It's late.

**Bor-Red:** Oh sure, leave when the conversation flows to you. But whatever. Leave me to my misery and my olives.

**Ms. Exterminator: **… what?

**Bor-Red: **Never mind. Just go. I'll call you tomorrow.

**Ms. Exterminator: **Ja ne!

Kagome closed out the window and wandered over to her bed. She turned out the lamp sitting lonely on her nightstand and passed out in the mass of quilts and pillows.

Kurama signaled Kuwabara and Yuusuke. Hiei and he disappeared inside the building as the pair laying low in the trees signaled back.

Naraku looked up from his desk as Hiei and Kurama walked into his office. He smirked. "Ah, my newest workers. What do you need?"

Hiei glanced around the room. _'Can you sense its power?'_

_It's in here. And luckily not on Naraku._

"We wanted to know when you could start training. You did talk about training us to be your henchmen, but you never set a specific time. We were hoping it could be soon." Kurama said, keeping his eyes down.

Naraku leaned back and folded his hands over chest. "I was thinking that my dear friend Hakudoshi could train you two." He called to a man out in the hall, most likely guarding the door.

When the little boy stepped into the room Kurama and Hiei's eyes widened.

_'I know we're not _actually_ working for him, but I am thoroughly insulted.'_

Kurama coughed to cover up his laugh. "Uh… is he strong enough to, ahem, train us?"

Hakudoshi's eyes narrowed. "Master… may I?"

Naraku smirked. "Go ahead."

In a split second Hakudoshi had knocked one of the walls down and then returned to his original spot. If you didn't have eyes like a youkai you would have missed his movement.

Kurama coughed again. "Ok then. He's good."

The small child bowed and walked out of the room, only to run back in a few seconds later.

"Master! There is a commotion on the front entrance!"

Naraku shot up from his seat. "What kind of commotion?"

Hakudoshi shook his head. "Commotion big enough for you to deal with."

Naraku growled and said, "You two, come sort this out with me. If it's big enough for Hakudoshi to get upset about, then we'll need a bit of help."

Hiei and Kurama smirked and exchanged looks as they ran behind Naraku.

_You signaled Yuusuke, then?_

Hiei snorted. _'No shit, Kurama. We're only running out there because some pixies came down from Faerie Land and are turning all of Naraku's henchmen into balls of cotton candy and unicorns.'_

Kurama staggered a bit in his running. _That sounded oddly well thought out, Hiei. Have you been hiding some fantasies in that mental brain of yours? It might be a side effect of being abandoned as a child. Do you… want to talk about it?_

_'Shut up.'_

Kurama snickered but stopped when the reached the entrance. He smiled almost a little proudly as he admired Yuusuke and Kuwabara's handiwork. _They did pretty good._

_'Indeed.'_

Around ten of Naraku's bodyguards were sprawled out on the ground bleeding from various parts of their bodies. Yuusuke was punching and kicking them while Kuwabara had his spirit sword out.

Kurama and Hiei jumped in, pretending to fight along with the other men that were still up. They were just pushing through the crowd to get to Yuusuke and Kuwabara, not really doing anything to help the people lying down.

Once they got to the center Yuusuke nodded to them and kicked them both lightly in the stomach. Both fell down, faking being too hurt to fight. The fighting pair led the group away from their bodies so they wouldn't be trampled.

Hiei stirred after a while, cracking his eyes open to see if anyone was looking. _'Ready, Kurama?'_

_Ready._

Hiei leaped up and bolted to the door fast as lightning. Kurama lay still for a while longer to make sure that no one saw Hiei disappear from his side before he leapt to the door.

Hiei was already at the office door when Kurama caught up with him. He was trying to jimmy the door open but to no avail.

"Let me try." Kurama whispered as he pushed around Hiei. He took a small blue seed out of his hair and pushed it into the keyhole. A few clicks came from inside it and then the door was open.

Hiei darted into the room, searching every nook and cranny.

'_Can you feel it?'_

_It's somewhere by that far wall._

Hiei and Kurama ran toward the back wall. It was completely empty; there were no pictures or shelves or anything. Hiei paced back and forth in front of it, closing his two normal eyes in concentration. His Jagan however was wide open and searching wildly.

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks and grinned from ear to ear. "I got it."

He punched his hand through the wall and then withdrew it with his hand clasped around something that was shining brightly. Kurama ran over to him and gazed at the bright bauble in Hiei's hand.

"We've finally got it." he whispered.

"And you're going to give it back."


	4. Remembering

_Ugh… where am I?_

Kurama sat up and looked around, not noticing that his eyes weren't even tired or that he didn't need to stretch his limbs after waking up. Directly in front of him was a light green wall with a large collage of pictures. Most of them were of a raven haired girl dancing, or sometimes they had her and some other people hugging or laughing. She was smiling in almost every single one.

Shaking his head he turned to the left and then his eyes widened. There seemed to be something around his neck, stretching out in all directions around him. The thing was, he didn't feel it or anything, it was just _there_. He lowered his head slightly and noticed that the thing didn't lower with him, but he didn't feel it move against his skin at all. He kept lowering his head until he was lying straight back down with his eyebrows furrowed and now looking at a large plank of wood. _What the _hell_ is going on?_

He looked to his right and noticed that there seemed to be an opening about the size a body could fit through. He scooted over until he could slide himself out, not noticing how his body didn't even seem to graze the edge of the opening. He stood up and looked back behind him. And then he gasped and stumbled back.

He had been lying underneath a bed.

_What… what's going on?!?!_ _Why… why…_

He continued to stumble back until suddenly he found himself in a bathroom. His mouth opened and closed, completely speechless, as he found himself staring at the wall that he had walked through.

"WHAT THE HELL???!!!!"

earlier that day...

Kagome yawned and slammed her alarm clock randomly, searching for the off button. When the loud beeping noise finally shut off she stretched her legs and arms straight into the air. Hopping off her bed she headed to her bathroom after glancing at her bedroom wall and out the window, checking quickly to make sure no cars were speeding towards her apartment. She sighed in relief and continued to her bathroom to brush her teeth.

It had been three months since that car had crashed into her room in the middle of the night. She had been seeing a shrink ever since then, still not entirely convinced that it wouldn't happen again.

_I know it's one of the most unlikely things to happen, but it happened, which means it could happen again._

Kagome frowned at her reflection in the mirror, her toothbrush dangling from her mouth. She had been having this thought forever since that crash and it didn't seem to be going away. She still had trouble going to sleep at night for fear that a car would careen into her room once more.

Gargling water, she placed her toothbrush into its cup and then spat, wiping her mouth on the back of her arm.

She entered her room again and opened her dresser to pick out her outfit. Today she had to meet with the dance teachers she had hired to discuss this year's recital. She pondered what to wear for a moment and then picked out a black tank top and a pair of dark Bermuda shorts. She pulled her long black hair into a high ponytail and then, grabbing her keys, ran out the door.

Turning the key in her ignition, Kagome remembered back to the investigation. It had been one of the most annoying and ridiculous things she had ever experienced. She couldn't sleep in her room for about two weeks after the crash because they couldn't remove the car until they had fully examined it, and then after they were done with that she couldn't get into her room until the clean up crew had removed all the debris and junk that cluttered the floor.

She pulled into the parking lot of the small shopping center with her dance studio smack dab in the middle. She smiled at it and thought back to the harrowing year it took to get it up and functioning.

She snorted at her thoughts and exited her car. _Geez. No one would believe how hard it is to get a dance studio up. First you have to find about five dance teachers, find students, find money, get dance equipment, yadda, yadda, yadda._

"Good morning everyone!" she shouted as she entered the dance studio's lobby. All of the teachers were crowded around the small table in the center.

"Good morning, Kagome. You're looking as lovely as ever." the tap teacher, Miroku, said.

"Why thank you, Miroku. Now stay away from my behind." Kagome warned, narrowing her eyes at him.

"If he doesn't, I'll simply cut off his hand, so no worries, Kagome." Sango, the lyrical teacher, said back.

Kagome grinned at turned her attention to the hip-hop and break dancing teacher, Kouga. Even though she constantly warned Miroku not to touch her, Kouga was the real problem. He was just so… ugh. The usual possessive male.

"Ah, my woman is finally here! I was worrying about you…"

She slapped a hand over his mouth before he could continue. "If you would be so kind as to not start that with me right now, I would appreciate it more than anything in the world."

Kouga sighed, but nodded.

Kagome glanced quickly over to Ayame, the tumbling and modern teacher, who seemed to be madly in love with Kouga. Which was a problem, because she was also a jealous type. The red haired ookami was scowling with her arms crossed, but quickly wiped her face clean of any frown and smiled at Kagome.

"Have you got any good ideas for the recital?" Kagome asked politely.

Ayame nodded. "A few. I was thinking something really loud and out there…"

Miroku lit up. "I know what the girls could do for a dance! A really nice striptease to... ACK! I'm sorry, Sango! It was only an idea."

Sango leaned back in her chair, hands behind her head. "It was a shitty idea. So just stop talking."

"And I don't think that the younger kids would appreciate it."

Everyone swiveled their heads towards a small woman sitting in the very corner of the table away from everyone else. She had no expression on her face and seemed to not care that no one had noticed her until just then.

Kagome coughed. "Oh, right, Kanna. They probably… umm… wouldn't."

Kanna handled the younger kid's classes. It was really weird that she did, but the kids seemed to love that she didn't respond to any of their loud screeches or annoying fights. In fact, they just liked that she didn't respond to anything. Her face was always just so… blah.

"I was thinking Broadway, actually." Kanna said quietly. "It would be nice to do something clean and fun."

Kouga scoffed. "What kind of Broadway show does hip hop? What would my classes be doing, then?"

"Maybe they could do a remix of some Broadway songs." Sango interjected.

"I don't give a crap, I'm not doing Broadway."

"Well you don't have to be so mean about it!"

"You have any better ideas, you PMS-ing bitch?"

"You…!"

Kagome leaned back in her chair and blocked everyone else out. They always did that. Fight and fight and fight. What would you expect from a demon and a girl who descended from demon slayers?

She closed her eyes and thought back to her earlier reminiscing of the car-in-room ordeal. If there was one thing that she tried to forget more than anything else about that it was the man in the car.

Furrowing her brow, she remembered clearly what she had stupidly done after she had regained consciousness and called the police.

_Kagome stumbled back into her room, stopping at her door to survey the pathetic scene in front of her eyes. The car had crashed into her window and scattered glass everywhere along with wood and bricks. Luckily it had missed her bed, but it hadn't missed her dresser. Her clothes were strewn across the room and across the hood of the car, some torn and others filthy._

_Stepping over some debris she reached the other side of her room to look on the driver's side. The airbag had malfunctioned and exploded only a fourth of the way out. The windshield was shattered along with the four other windows. And then Kagome, taking a deep breath, looked into the face of the man driving the car._

_She gasped but couldn't move from her spot. _

_In the front seat was a young man, no older than twenty-nine, with long red hair. He was slouched in his seat with blood running down one side of his face, his bangs stuck to his forehead. Kagome reached out almost unconsciously and touched his cheek. He was very handsome, even if he was bleeding from the head. She pushed his bangs away from his forehead and felt tears welling up. His chest didn't appear to be rising and falling at all. _

_Cutting her hand lightly on a shard of glass in the window, she pulled her hand away from him and opened the door. Maybe if she could get him out of the car and onto her bed she could help him._

_Something flashed in the corner of her eye as she opened the door all the way. Looking down she saw a small shiny rock or jewel lying on the ground. Guessing it was his, she picked it up to inspect it._

_Her mouth almost dropped open as her fingers touched it. Some sort of pulse was radiating off of it, but it didn't hurt Kagome. She gazed into the depths of the jewel for what seemed like hours until the doorbell rang out._

_Kagome almost dropped the jewel but ran to the front door instead. Throwing it open and breathing hard, she said, "Yes?"_

_A few police men were standing outside her door, along with paramedics. She pointed down the hall, too petrified to speak. The men scurried down to her bedroom and nearly all of them gasped._

_"Never seen something like this before…" one said._

_"How drunk do you have to be to do this?" another commented._

_Kagome sat down in her living room with wide eyes. It was setting in how completely astounding the situation was. Sucking on her hand where it was cut, she closed her eyes and sank into the couch._

_Minutes late the police came back into the room and asked Kagome a few questions. Kagome remained utterly zombie-like during the interrogation but answered their inquiries diligently._

_Saying goodbye, the police left and added that they would be back with more people and a detective. _

_Kagome fell right onto the carpet crumpled and lying on her side. Raising her fist to her face, she looked at the jewel that was still clutched in her hand…_

"… you have absolutely horrible ideas."

"Yours are no better, moron!"

"Shut up!"

Kagome shook her head, clearing it of those disturbing thoughts.

"See, even Kagome disagrees with your ideas! She's shaking her head!"

Kanna coughed and interrupted Koga's and Sango's quarrel. "How about we let Kagome decide? She is the owner after all."

Kagome smiled and thanked the small girl. "I actually had an idea. How about the theme 'Reach'?"

Ayame raised an eyebrow. "And that would be…?"

"Well…" Kagome started, "We could have lots of different kinds of music, not just the usual hip-hop and Top 40 stuff. Like different cultures and different beats. There is lots of stuff out there that no one knows about." She smiled and concluded, looking pointedly at Sango and Koga, "Reaching to set aside our differences through dance."

Miroku nodded. "I like that. It's different than the usual stuff."

Sango looked thoughtful. "That could work. Yeah. Let's do that."

Kagome grinned. "Let's vote. All in favor raise your right hand."

Everyone raised their hand except Koga, who groaned and lifted his fingers slightly. "Whatever."

"Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, who wants to go eat some Wacdonalds?"


End file.
